GooseBumps
by BlueSkies13
Summary: I decided I might as well just get everything out there and be completely honest seeing as after tonight I wasgoing to be a gay hermit anyway.'And you have to notice that you give me goose bumps'Lots of things give Lily goosebumps.Especially James Potter


_Goosebumps._

Lots of things can give a person Goosebumps. The cold can give a person Goosebumps. Creepy things like spiders can give a person Goosebumps. The excitement when the seeker's reaching fingers are only millimetres away from the snitch and the whole stadium is on their feet and everyone is screaming and jumping can give you Goosebumps. Sometimes, people can give you Goosebumps.

Only one person has ever given me extreme Goosebumps. James Potter.

The first time was in fourth year. We had DADA with the Ravenclaws that Wednesday morning, just like every other Wednesday. I sat in my seat next to Sirius Black as usual, and as usual he ignored me and I ignored his friends seated behind us. I cursed the day Professor Carriage made him swap seats with Mary MacDonald for disruptive behaviour during class time. I used to enjoy that class. After that day? Not so much…

Professor Carriage swept into the room in her long violet cloak. She moved swiftly down the aisle, the velvet folds billowing slightly behind her. Like every other DADA lesson, she commanded the people by the windows to close them and pull the curtains. Sometimes I wondered what Professor Dumbledore was thinking when he put a paranoid nutcase like Carriage into a room with thirty odd teenagers. Other times it was obvious. She had lightening quick reflexes and sharp senses, hearing every word uttered in the room and seeing every passed note. She was experienced and had a first hand tale to tell on almost every creature in the book.

'Put your books away,' she said, snapping Marlene McKinnon's shut for emphasise. Marlene glared. Ever since the Doxy incident, she held a special kind of loathing for the Professor.

I tucked my book into my bag, thinking today's lesson would be some form of dictation. My hand ached at the mere thought. Sirius glanced down at my side of the shared table and left his quill and paper out too.

'Everything packed away, please,' Carriage instructed again. 'And push the desks and chairs to the walls.'

I zipped up my bag and sat it on the chair, then began to drag them both over to the side of the room. When I went back to the table, Sirius' chair was gone too and he was starting to push the table to the outskirts.

'Do you want me to…?' He pressed it neatly up against the wall. 'Never mind then,' I muttered, seeing my help was obviously not needed. Stupid boy strength. I joined the loose cluster of students in the centre of the room, standing next to Hestia Jones.

'Form a line please, starting here.' Carriage tapped her foot on the spot a couple feet back from an end table. Frowning in apprehensive confusion, I stood behind Hestia. Sirius slouched past me with James Potter, heading for the back of the line. 'This here,' Professor Carriage said calmly, 'is a boggart.'

Quick as a flash the two dossers were passing me again, this time for a spot in the queue closer to the front. Potter paused, glanced down the row of students, bespectacled eyes landing on me. I raised my eyebrows at him. With his hands in pockets and a gleam in his eyes, he slid in front of me and within seconds, Sirius had hopped in front of him.

'Potter, go back,' I hissed as Carriage turned her back and did something with the table. 'I was here first.'

'It's just a spot in a line, Evans,' he whispered back. 'No big deal.'

I huffed and poked him between his shoulder blades, which were easy to find because of his tall and thin build. He jabbed his hand back at me but I dodged. I pinched his palm before he could retract it.

'D'you know what? If you're going to throw such a hissy fit, I'll go back,' he grumbled, stepping around me. 'You don't mind, do you McKinnon?' he asked as he stood behind me in her space.

'Shut up, I'm trying to listen.' I held back a laugh at Marlene's blunt response and then decided to take a leaf out of her book and just ignore him.

'Now, when your boggart takes its form- which is, remind me, of what, Mr Lupin?'

'Your biggest fear,' Remus replied smoothly from a couple people ahead of Sirius.

'Correct, five points to Gryffindor for reading over the chapter. When it's taken its form, say clearly, _Ridikulous_. Understand? Perfect. Ms Abbot, would you start?'

Lucy stepped forward and Carriage opened the end table's drawer. The room was still. There was a rapid flash in the space in front of Lucy.

'See how it's deciding what form to take? It's debating over which thing scares Ms Abbott most,' Carriage observed tonelessly from her desk.

Finally a big gust of black nothingness opened up in the Bogart's place and began to descend upon the little blonde. In front of me Sirius scoffed quietly. 'She's afraid of the dark?'

I glared at his back. 'Leave her alone.'

'Leave _him_ alone.'

I elbowed Potter in the stomach. The line kept moving, each person taking their turn. Sirius' boggart was whirring about in front of him, finding it difficult to pin down a fear. I watched attentively while I waited.

'What's your biggest fear, Evans?' Potter whispered in my ear. His breath was warm and it tickled my neck. Despite how much he irritated me, I had to tighten all my muscles to stop from shivering.

'Take two steps back please,' I mutter from the corner of my mouth.

'Ah, so close contact is what haunts your nightmares.' He took another step until the toes of his polished black shoes were touching the heels of mine. 'Why is that?'

'Next, Ms Evans.'

I pressed my lips together and shook off his presence. I'd missed what Sirius' boggart was because of the great buffoon. After turning my rat into a sausage, I sat back down beside Sirius at my desk. I was determined not to watch Potter and give him the attention. As we walked past our desk, he winked at me- or it could have been Sirius, and brushed my arm. I twisted his wrist.

I rolled down my shirt sleeves vaguely. Goosebumps covered my arms. I told Peter Pettigrew to close the window.

!

I kept my distance as much as I could from him for the rest of the year. He was always trying to embarrass me or annoy me. But one day around February of fifth year, he caught me in the library and I had nowhere to run. Ignoring him proved difficult.

'So Evans,' he said, following me around the corner of a deserted aisle. He'd taken the pile of books I was putting back into his arms in a rare gentlemanly moment. 'I've been thinking.'

I took a thick herbology book off him. 'And this is related to me how?' I wedged the book back onto its shelf.

'Well I was actually thinking about you,' he said casually, shoving another book onto a random shelf.

I raised my eyebrows warily. This can't be good. I continued putting books back in their places.

'So, me and Padfoot were talking-'

'Who?'

He looked blank for a minute, then blinked. 'Um, Sirius. Yeah so we were talking and we came to the conclusion that you are actually quite pretty.' He looked at me expectantly. I felt myself blush and turned away quickly. I rounded the corner and marched to the Astronomy section, determined to keep myself controlled. He followed.

'Yeah, and so since Sirius has absolutely no interest whatsoever in girls, we decided that I should ask you out.'

I froze with my hand stretched up to a high shelf. 'Really?'

He plucked the book from my hand and reached up easily to the space. 'Mmhm. So the next Hogsmeade trip is Valentine's weekend and if you want to go with me…well, you know. You can.'

I stared at him. 'I have never been more insulted in my life.'

'Well I mean- what?'

I slam the book onto a nearby table. 'You think you're so funny, making other people look stupid. Do you think it makes you cooler? It doesn't. It makes you a big bully and I think you're pathetic the way you have to put others down to make yourself seem better! Oh I can just imagine how funny the four of you thought it would be!' I put on a deep voice. '_Oh, Prags, why don't you ask Evans out? I dare you!'_

Potter pressed his lips together. 'They call me _Prongs_, and who exactly was that supposed to be an imitation of?' he asked tightly.

'Bloody Lupin!' I snapped.

'He doesn't talk like that,' he growled back.

I grabbed the books from him and spilled them onto the table. 'Just stay away from me Potter. Merlin, I thought we'd moved past the stupid jokes. But I guess some people just never realise when the routine's gotten old.'

'What routine?'

'The make Lily miserable routine!'

'Whatever.' He stalked down the aisle, his back stiff and fists clenched. Before he turned the corner, he spun around abruptly. 'I-' He shook his head. 'You're impossible.'

My mouth fell open in disbelief and I abandoned the books. I hurried down the aisle after him to give him a right verbal walloping. When I reached the corner, the door to the library was just slamming shut.

The bang made me wince and the silence that remained made my skin prick.

!

Around spring of sixth year, the reasons behind the Goosebumps changed. It was always James, but it was different things James did.

'Well Evans!'

I jumped, clutching my heart. 'James, what are you doing?' I demanded, picking up my fallen books. He bent down next to me and gathered them under his arm easily.

'Well, I am about to go win a Quidditch match. What are you doing?'

I raised an eyebrow dryly at his cockiness that no longer made me burn with irritation, but instead intrigued. 'I am about to bring these back to my dorm.' I straightened up and held my hands out for my things.

'And then go watch me win a Quidditch match, right?' he asked, keeping possession of my things, leading the way down the hall and up the stairs to the Gryffindor headquarters.

'Well I suppose I'm going to the match you're playing in. I hope I'll be able to see you though, they have this one player whose big head kind of blocks everyone else out.' I feigned worry and innocence.

He chuckled. 'I'll give his ego a good knocking when I score. Again and again and again,' he promised, winking.

'Good, he really needs it.'

'So you _do _believe in my abilities,' he grinned.

'I think Amy is a very good seeker,' I corrected.

'You're biased, she's your friend. But to make this match a little less boring- Ravenclaw are never much of a challenge,' he added at my expression, 'I'll make you a bet.'

'I am not removing any article of clothing and I am inhaling nothing,' I warned him.

'If I win,' he stated, 'I get a dance with you.'

I shrugged. It sounded easy enough. 'Fine.'

So that night, after Gryffindor were through to the House Cup Finals, winning by only ten points thanks to James' last goal, everyone was packed into the common room. I could hear the music from my dorm.

'Lily,' Amy sighed. 'You should really just go.'

I bit my lip and shook my head. 'No, I'll stay, I don't mind.'

Amy rolled her lovely sapphire eyes. I tried to control my cringe. The beautiful right orb was marred by a black and purple bruise. Her bottom lip was spilt open and her left arm was in a cast. Rosier really had left her worse for the wear. 'Go. I'm just going to take a shower anyway.'

'I don't want to leave you alo-'

'I'll take it from here Evans.'

I frowned at Sirius. 'How did you get in?'

He shrugged. 'Without much real effort is all you need know. Go on, James is looking for you.' He passed me, giving me a push towards the door. I paused with my hand against the doorframe. Sirius sat on Amy's bed, his arm around her. I bit my lip and strained to hear what he was saying. 'No one blames you. You played brilliantly, Rosier is a cunt.'

I heard a sniff. 'I was knocked out! I should have seen that bloody bludger-'

Sirius growled. '_I _should have seen the fucking bludger. You got hurt and because of me-'

I slipped out of the room quietly. The way Sirius loved Amy was something I was sure I would never have. Boys never stuck around me. They cared for a while and then, _poof_, they vanished. But Amy, she had Sirius since fifth year. Even during a breakup he was hers.

'There you are!' James exclaimed when I came down the stairs. 'Hiding, were you?'

I rolled my eyes but smiled at his post-match buzz. 'I don't hide from anything.'

'Come along then,' he grinned. He offered me his hand and after a moments hesitation I took it. He led me through the crowd in the centre of the common room, to the fringes of the people. He rested his hands on my waist and I placed mine on his shoulders. This was weird. It was my first time being so close to him. I'd always thought his eyes were brown, but from my spot pressed up against him, I could see that there were green flecks in the brown, and a thick gold ring around the iris of each eye. He smelled nice.

He started moving at a slow pace that didn't match the song playing. 'James, are you deaf?' I questioned.

'Shh.'

'You've got the tempo all wrong,' I grumbled.

'It's my dance,' he answered quietly. 'And I get to choose how I want it, because I won the bet.'

'So why didn't you just wait for a slow song?' I wondered.

'You looked too pretty to resist.'

I smiled into his shoulder, glad of the dim lighting hiding my blush. We kept swaying until the music changed into one that was more suited to our speed. 'This is better,' I announced.

'It's all the same to me,' James murmured, looking down at me with a soft expression. 'I'm still dancing with you.'

Warm tingles ran down my back, up my arms. I lay my head in the crook of his neck and hoped the song was a long one.

!

There was a Halloween ball for seventh years, a sort of treat to enjoy before we became to overcome with studying for NEWT's. It was on the 31st and was, amazingly, Halloween themed. I knew because I was in charge of organising it, along with the Head Boy and the fellow seventh year prefects.

James Potter turned out to be a wonderful Head Boy. He was driven and dedicated and a true leader. With his strong personality and many worshippers, he had no problem with control or selling his ideas. Yet I never once felt outshone.

I suppose if things had carried on between us the way they were in fifth year it would have been a very difficult year. But our friendship only got stronger after that night in sixth year. I spoke to him regularly and had a laugh. And, after that night, I developed a bit of a crush on him.

But Quidditch practise and decorating for the ball clashed. So despite James being a wonderful Head Boy, the tosspot left me to handle it.

'Ok we need more pumpkins,' I fretted, a hand on my forehead. 'Can someone please get more pumpkins?'

'I'll go down to Hagrid's,' Remus volunteered.

'Hurry! We only have two hours!' I moaned. Then I immediately felt bad for being so ungrateful. 'Thank you Remus!' I called after him as he left the Great Hall. Tessie McKenzie, one of my best friends, caught my attention. 'No no no no no! Do _not _put that there!'

After redirecting dozens of real cobwebs, tidying up some charm work and realising the two hundred ordered cauldron cakes still hadn't arrived, I was a mess. I sunk down onto a bench and it dawned on me that the house tables were still there.

'Who's in charge of setting up the toadstool tables?' I demanded. No one looked up from their work. 'Ugh!' My head sunk into my lap. 'Where is James Potter?'

At that exact moment, the deep, warm voice echoed through the hall from the doors. 'Well hello hello hello!'

I gritted my teeth and glared at him. 'Where were you?' I asked accusingly. 'Practise ended an hour and a half ago.'

'Sorry, I got held up with other arrangements,' he replied easily. 'It looks great though. You managed fine without me.'

'Well now that you're here, you can join in. Remus is gone down to get more pumpkins from Hagrid, but it'll be a handful for him alone, the cauldron cakes haven't arrived from Honeydukes yet and the tables need to be set up. Take your pick,' I said, gesturing to the working prefects around us.

'Well since I'm the Transfiguration guru here, I'll get to work on the tables,' he responded decidedly. He took his wand out and pointed it at the Hufflepuff quarters. With a determined expression, he changed the long table into four middle sized circular tables, the benches into stools with high backs. 'You're decorating them, are you?' he asked.

Swallowing my envy at his skill, I shook my head. 'No, Amy and Jelly are.'

He nodded. 'Is Amy not here yet?'

I pursed my lips. 'No.'

He arched an eyebrow and pressed his lips together. 'Oh.' His lips twitched. 'So you were ditched by your girlfriend. Ouch.'

'She'll be here,' I assured myself more than him. 'Just get back to work.' The bench I was perched on popped into a throne. 'Show off,' I muttered, standing and taking it upon myself to check out the whereabouts of the snacks. 'Can you just make sure nothing burns?' I appealed to him.

'Don't worry, Lily,' he sighed. 'It'll be fine. I wouldn't let anything ruin this. I promise.'

My stomach fluttered at his sincerity. I hurried out of the hall before I turned mushy or did something completely sad and pathetic. In the entrance hall I bumped into Amy and Sirius, his arm around her. The trail of floating cardboard boxes behind them stopped me from exploding.

'Those better be-'

'Cauldron Cakes,' Amy confirmed. 'Mr. Flume said he's sorry they're so late, but his delivery boy called in sick. He sent professor McGonagall a message asking could someone come down and pick them up because the shop is too busy to leave. We just happened to be passing and she asked us to go down,' she explained.

'Brilliant,' I said briskly. 'Bring them in.' With a flick of her wand, the boxes trooped past me, through the grand double doors. Amy followed after them, leaving me and Sirius alone.

'Been talking to James?' he asked casually.

I ground my teeth together. Ever since Sirius found the notes Amy and I had been exchanging in history, about how I had developed feelings for James and wished he'd ask me to the stupid ball, he brought it up whenever I was around. It made me want to punch him. Or flick him. Or tell him Amy didn't love him. That had the most satisfying effect.

'Yes, communication is required between Head students,' I said as calmly as I could.

'Have you asked him to the Ball yet?'

'No,' I hissed as Remus entered the school with about fifty pumpkins suspended in the air and following him. He eyed us apprehensively and hurried past. People had noticed we seemed to be bitching a lot lately. Mainly because Black couldn't get his perfectly sculpted nose out of my love life.

He tsked. 'Evans, it's on in less than three hours; get a move on.'

I snapped. 'Why should I ask him? How the hell does that complete the magical night this should be if I have to ask the great bum face? Why in Merlin's dirty beard has he not asked me?'

He raised his eyebrows in mild surprise and shrugged. 'Dunno.'

'You're a lying tramp,' I accused.

He grinned. 'Are we getting desperate?'

'Amy doesn't love you.'

'Ouch.'

'What are you two doing? We need help bewitching the pumpkins,' Amy said agitated as she appeared in the doorway of the Great Hall.

'Coming babe,' Sirius chirped. He winked at me as he joined her. 'By the way Evans- look pretty tonight.' I dug my heel into the floor angrily and closed my eyes, breathing deeply. 'Hey Amy?'

'What?'

'I love you.'

'You're not getting out of work, Black.'

I smiled in satisfaction.

**GB**

It made my blood boil to no end that I actually took what Sirius Black said into consideration and did what he told me. But damn it, did I try my absolute hardest that night to look pretty. I prayed to god that whatever _shred _of attractiveness that had been hiding on me for the past seventeen years would come out tonight.

In the end it took Maddie and a lot of comb techniques to please me even a little.

I felt so self conscious looking at Maddie and Amy before we went down to the Entrance Hall. They were beautiful. All my friends are unfairly pretty, but those two made people not just look back, but literally stop and crane their necks to look again.

Maddie was all contrasts; straight ebony hair, pale jade eyes, tanned skin. She had perfect curves that were shown impeccably in her forest green cocktail dress. It was strapless and did things to her chest that would make McGonagall purse her lips and Slughorn clear his throat. It also showed her legs wonderfully.

Amy was all colours. The honey curls, sapphire eyes and light golden skin gave her a warm and exotic look. She had a strong, athletic body, the product of working for the Order of the Phoenix since the age of fifteen. She had opted for purple kitten heels, because she didn't want to look like a giant. She was already taller than most girls in the year. She had an angled face and lovely slender shoulders that suited her sweetheart dress nicely.

I had gone for a safer look, knowing I wasn't able to pull off a dress as bold as theirs. It had thin straps and a modest neckline and brushed the tops of my knees. It was black and had a thick and tight black sash around the waist. From there down and around the top it had black roses on it. I paired my dress with emerald skyscraper heels, because of my lack of height. Maddie fixed my red hair into waves and Amy ringed my eyes with lots of black, making them look greener ever. Tessie, the true make up master, did the rest.

In the end I was fairly happy with the result. The five of us went through the empty common room at five to nine, and took the stairs slowly and carefully. How terrible would it have looked if I, in my genius four inches, tumbled down the staircase? Of course my skirt would fly up, not a nice sight on account of the thong I was wearing.

I dreaded the moment when my friends joined their dates and I was left as the third wheel. I resented every single boy in the entrance hall, especially one messy haired fellow who supposedly liked me since fifth year but when the time came when I liked him back, he chickened out of asking me on a date. Bloody gobshite. (Courtesy of Amy, that one is).

We all went into the Hall, and I had to beam at how great it looked. I sat around a toadstool with Amy, Sirius and Jelly, whose boyfriend had already graduated Hogwarts and so, was 'flying solo' if you will. Soon the couples left for the dance floor and we sat there in a wistful silence.

I was just thinking of the time in fifth year when I was convinced I should just give up on the male species and become a gay hermit, was wondering why I gave up on that project, when I felt a tap on my bare shoulder. I looked around and my heart skipped a beat.

James Potter looked so handsome in red robes.

'Do you want to…' he flicked his head to the dancing couples.

I clenched my fists. Oh so he wanted to dance. He wanted to hold me close and try to touch my butt, but he didn't have the decency to ask me to spend the night with him while he did it? That little user. And yet I stood and let him wrap his arm around my waist because I am a sucker for a man in a dickybow.

A slow song was playing. James wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him and I wondered if God thought it was funny when my whole body turned to mush and my insides melted.

'You look stunning,' he whispered in my ear.

'Thanks,' I grumbled.

He pulled back a bit. 'What's wrong? Everything turned out right. The hall looks amazing, everyone is having a good time, the cauldron cakes are being eaten-'

'Yes, but I don't have a date, do if?' I snapped. 'The most important part of the night is bloody gone because you decided you didn't want to ask me!' I hid my face in his robed shoulder, mortified at my outburst.

'You were waiting for me to ask you?' I didn't answer his idiotic question. Honestly, are all boys so dim-witted? 'Lily?'

'Obviously,' I retorted sulkily.

He ran his hand up and down the small of my back softly. 'I didn't know that,' he mumbled.

'Don't see how, I hinted enough times.' I decided I might as well just get everything out there and be completely honest seeing as after tonight I'm going to be a gay fucking hermit anyway. 'And you have to notice that you give me goose bumps!'

'Goose bumps?' He looked confused in the extreme.

'Yes.'

'Well…that's good, I think.'

'It is. But back on track: how could you not get my signals?'

'Well, in all fairness, you've never said yes or acted like you were going to say yes before; I don't exactly know how to recognise the signs. I thought you were just being friendly.'

'Don't pretend like Sirius didn't say anything to you,' I sighed.

He chuckled. 'So that's true then?'

'I'm sure he made it all seem much more extreme and dramatic than it really was,' I pointed out.

'Lily, if you wanted me to ask you and I wasn't getting the message…'

I looked up at him warily. 'Yes?'

He shook his head with an exasperated smile on his face. 'Why didn't _you _just ask _me_?'

I blinked. All boys really do think the same. 'Because…that's just not how it works.'

'You punched me in fourth year for being 'sexist',' he reminded me. 'And it's not like you to not take control of a situation.'

I frowned at my feet. 'Well, you make me act differently,' I mumbled sheepishly. 'I'd never been a violent person before you started puberty.'

'Lily, please, you were just as hormonal. But anyway, the point is all this could have been avoided if one of us had pulled our heads out of our arses. And the night is young, we have until midnight. Will you, Lily Evans, be my date for the rest of the night?'

I blushed and avoid his eyes. 'Yeah.'

'And maybe…we could go to Hogsmeade tomorrow too. If you'd like,' he added.

I grinned. 'I'd love that.' Then I used the heels that were killing my feet for some good and pressed my lips to his. He returned the pressure and spun me around. When he pulled away he was smiling widely.

'Finally. Who knew all that it'd take was a bit of dignity!'

I laughed, cut off by his lips. His kisses made me tingle all over, made my heart sing. My skin was covered-

'You have goose bumps,' he laughed, running his fingers lightly up and down my arm. Not helping.

'I told you,' I smiled, kissing him again.

**This is only my second one shot, so of course improvement is needed, but I hope you all enjoyed it! It's a bit different for me, I don't usually write in the past tense. Please review with your opinions and feelings! **

**Dress links are on my profile, if anyone is interested in seeing what the girls wore to the Ball.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Thanks for reading xoxo**


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